Kachha Murg Biryani

Chicken Biryani

Recipe of Kacche Chicken Ki Biryani (Biryani made with uncooked chicken)

Preparation Time: 30-40 minutes

Marinating Time- 5 hours

Cooking Time: 1.30 hours

Ingredients:

Chicken – 1 kg

Basmati Rice- 500 gms

Curd- 500 gms

Onions- 600 gms

Garlic paste- 2 tbsp

Ginger paste- 1.5 tbsp

Green Chillies- 5-6 medium hot

Mustard Oil- 1 tbsp (Optional)

Green Pudina- 50 gms

Dhania- 20 gms

Red Chilly powder- 2 tbsp

Garam Masala- 1 tbsp

Ghee- 2-3 tbsp

Bayleaf- 3-4

Pepper corn-10-15

Cloves- 4-5

Cinnamon- 1 inch stick

Salt- to taste

Saffron leaves-7-9 strands/turmeric powder

Milk- 3/4 cup

Oil to fry the onions

Wheat dough for sealing the handi for Dum (pressure cooking)

Method

Cut chicken into large pieces about 2-3 inches. Wash nicely and keep aside.

Make a paste out of the ginger, garlic and green chillies.

Wash Pudina or Mint leaves. Pluck the leaves and chop it finely. Similarly clean and chop the Dhania or Cilantro leaves.

Beat thick curd or yogurt nicely then add to the yogurt all the chicken, salt, red chilly powder, Garam Masala, half of the mint leaves, half of the Cilantro and Mustard Oil. If you don't like the pungent taste of Mustard oil you can avoid it. Instead add refined vegetable oil.

Mix this whole marinate well. Put it in a bowl and cover with cling foil. Keep over-night or at least for 4-5 hours. Over-night is best.

 

Cut all the onions into thin slices. Fry all the onion slices till they are golden brown in refined oil. Keep aside. 

Warm the milk and soak the saffron strands in the milk. Keep it aside for later use. (If you don’t have saffron you can substitute it with turmeric powder but in that case you don’t need to soak it in the milk)

Wash and soak the Basmati rice for half an hour. Cook the rice but keep it half done. Cook the rice with a ratio of 1: 1.5 so for every 1 cup of rice take 1.5 cups of water. Take the required quantity of water, add the washed and soaked rice and then add salt, peppercorn, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf. Also add ½ spoon of ghee and start the cooking process.

 

When the rice start boiling, reduce the heat to low and keep cooking it. When the rice has almost soaked most of the water cover with a lid and cook till all the water has soaked. Ensure that the rice is still not fully done but is partially cooked.

Spread the rice on a muslin cloth so that it doesn’t stick together.

Next mix half the fried onions with the chicken marinate mixture.

Then take a thick bottomed handi (A handi is a cooking vessel with a narrow opening and a broad bottom). Add one tablespoon of refined oil (you can use the left over oil from the onion frying) into the handi. Put this whole mixture along with half the fried onions in the handi.

Add half of  the partially cooked rice on top of the chicken marinate. Then sprinkle a little of the fried onions, mint and cilantro on top and add the remaining rice and spread it well.  Add all the remaining fried onions, mint and cilantro on top.

Randomly pour the saffron milk over the whole rice and chicken preparation. If you are using tumeric powder instead of saffron add it to the milk and pour over the rice.

Put all the remaining ghee in small dollops over the rice.

Close the handi with a well fitting cover and seal the edges with the dough so that the heat from the pan doesn’t escape outside. If the cover is flat one can also put some weight on top of the lid to add extra pressure so that the steam remain longer inside the handi and does not escape.

 

Now put the handi on the gas on high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for another 15-20 minutes and then reduce the heat to low and cook for another 30 minutes. If you feel that the Biryani could burn at the bottom put a tava underneath the handi after 15 minutes and continue cooking but add 5 more minutes if you put a tava underneath.

Switch off the gas. Wait for 5 minutes and open the lid of the handi. The smell of the Biryani should blow your mind away.

Enjoy the Biryani with Raita.

 

Note: Cooking slowly on Dum means it is cooked under pressure, not in a pressure cooker but pressure is created by sealing the lid of the handi with dough.